(NaturalNews) Over the last two years, we've witnessed a mass exodus away from agave nectar and a search for more natural sweeteners that are both low on the glycemic index and high in nutrient density. Several candidates have emerged, but my all-out favorite has become coconut sugar, which is really more like a coconut caramel sap.

This sweetener is fast becoming extremely popular among raw foodies, vegans and vegetarians. Many have switched from agave nectar to coconut sugar for all the reasons I'm covering here.

The coconut sugar (sap) I've been using is a 100% pure organic crystallized coconut sap from Thailand. It's harvested from the sap of unopened coconut blossoms, then boiled under controlled heat to drive off the water and condense the liquid to a dark brown sap. There are no additives used, no bleaching, and absolutely no stripping of minerals or other nutrients. It's not a raw food, however. Cooking the sap is a necessary part of concentrating it, just like with maple syrup, which is really a concentration of the watery maple sap.

The result is a thick, liquid "caramel" sap that's brown in color and extremely sweet. It tastes almost like fudge, and some people even eat it like fudge. (Intense sweetness!) I use it in smoothies, where I've found it to offer the most full-spectrum sweetness taste from any natural sweetener I've ever tried. Agave nectar was great, but coconut sugar is so much better -- it actually reminds me of the richness of raw cane sugar juice that I used to drink in South America.

Works in smoothies, recipes and hot beverages

This caramelized coconut sugar is also very handy in its sap format: It melts easily in hot beverages, it mixes easily in recipes, and it blends easily in smoothies. Amazingly, it's only 12% sugar, and it's high in potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron. It's also high in several key B vitamins, so eating it is not just delicious; it's also healthy! (My theory is that the presence of certain trace minerals enhances the sweetness and richness of the flavor without needing high sugar content like you'll find in refined sugar...)

When you buy a 3-pack (three pails) of our Thai Coconut Sugar (9 lbs total), the discount is increased to 36% off. We're doing this at such a great discount to help introduce you to this amazing product so you can try it yourself.

We also have the same product available in smaller jars at up to 36% off, too. However, it's a far better value to purchase in the larger pails, where the final price is less than $6 / pound based on the 3-pack discount.

You will be amazed by the taste of this Thai coconut sugar. There's nothing like it in the world of natural sweeteners. I encourage you to actually try it straight! It's an intense, fudge-like taste with an amazing texture that just melts in your mouth. Drop it into smoothies or recipes to give them a taste of heaven.

The claimed glycemic index (GI) of this food is 35 -- which is extraordinarily low for a sweetener. Over the years, however, I've gained a fair amount of skepticism about the GI numbers that sweetener companies claim. However, I've been using it regularly and have had no blood sugar issues at all -- and I used to be hypoglycemic and borderline diabetic, so I'm extremely sensitive to my own blood sugar fluctuations. Try it yourself and I think you'll be surprised at the minimal impact this has on blood sugar (which is probably due in part to the high trace mineral content it contains).

About the author:Mike Adams (aka the "Health Ranger") is a best selling author (#1 best selling science book on Amazon.com) and a globally recognized scientific researcher in clean foods. He serves as the founding editor of NaturalNews.com and the lab science director of an internationally accredited (ISO 17025) analytical laboratory known as CWC Labs. There, he was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for achieving extremely high accuracy in the analysis of toxic elements in unknown water samples using ICP-MS instrumentation. Adams is also highly proficient in running liquid chromatography, ion chromatography and mass spectrometry time-of-flight analytical instrumentation.

Adams is a person of color whose descendents include Africans and American Indians. He self-identifies as being of American Indian heritage, which he credits as inspiring his "Health Ranger" passion for protecting life and nature against the destruction caused by chemicals, heavy metals and other forms of pollution.

Adams is the founder and publisher of the open source science journal Natural Science Journal, the author of numerous peer-reviewed science papers published by the journal, and the author of the world's first book that published ICP-MS heavy metals analysis results for foods, dietary supplements, pet food, spices and fast food. The book is entitled Food Forensics and is published by BenBella Books.

In addition to his lab work, Adams is also the (non-paid) executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (CWC), an organization that redirects 100% of its donations receipts to grant programs that teach children and women how to grow their own food or vastly improve their nutrition. Through the non-profit CWC, Adams also launched Nutrition Rescue, a program that donates essential vitamins to people in need. Click here to see some of the CWC success stories.

With a background in science and software technology, Adams is the original founder of the email newsletter technology company known as Arial Software. Using his technical experience combined with his love for natural health, Adams developed and deployed the content management system currently driving NaturalNews.com. He also engineered the high-level statistical algorithms that power SCIENCE.naturalnews.com, a massive research resource featuring over 10 million scientific studies.